Package having tear strip



Aug. 21, 1956 C. A. DURNA PACKAGE HAVING TEAR STRIP Filed Feb. 4, 1953 IN V EN TOR.

United States Patent PACKAGE HAVING TEAR STRIP Clement A. Duma, Erving, Mass., assignor to Erving Paper Mills, Erving, Mass., a corporation of Massachusetts Application February 4, 1953, Serial No. 335,089

1 Claim. (Cl. 229-51) This invention relates to a new and improved package and the principal object of the invention resides in the provision of a sealed package which has a window therein disclosing the goods in the package, said window being made of a thin transparent, flexible material commonly known by the name cellophane, in combination with a tear strip integral with the box and which intersects the transparent sheet and provides means for easily tearing the transparent sheet to give access to the box without otherwise opening the same and thus avoiding the common difficulties involved in the opening of boxes to obtain access to the contents thereof.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear hereinafter.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing the package;

Fig. 2 is a section on line 22 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2 but showing the tear strip in the act of being torn off.

In the art of packaging, it is advantageous to provide visible easy opening packages so as to avoid the necessity of cutting or ripping sealed boxes and lids, and of course the main objective of a great many packages is to provide means for opening the same quickly and easily and with the least consumer operation required.- It is also advantageous to be able to display the goods contained in the package, so that the consumer knows what he is buying. Cellophane used for this purpose is sometimes difficult to tear. At the same time, it is desirable to have the package completely sealed, so that dirt cannot get in.

To this end, this invention provides a package consisting of a box which has a front wall and a side wall 12 as well as an opposite side wall and bottom (not shown), a rear wall 14, and a top shown at 16. This package is adapted to be completely sealed. The front, rear and side walls may be made of a single piece cemented together at a joint, and the top and bottom may be made of conventional flaps which are turned in and cemented, so that the contents of the package are completely sealed in against the entrance of dirt.

The front wall 10 is provided with an elongated irregular-shaped opening indicated generally at 18. This opening extends diagonally from the upper left-hand corner to the lower right-hand corner, so as to expose to view substantially the entire contents of the package. It is preferred that the upper left-hand corner be relatively small and the lower right-hand corner of the opening be enlarged and that both ends should be spear pointed as shown in Fig. l to provide for the strongest possible front wall with the largest possible opening.

The reference numeral indicates a sheet of cellophane or the like which is applied to the rear surface of the front wall as for instance along lines 22 and completely closes the opening 18 while protecting the contents of the package and exposing the same to view.

2,759,657 CE Patented Aug. 21, 1956 At one side wall there is cut out a relatively small tab 24 under which the finger may be inserted to lift the same up, i. e. outwardly. The broken lines 26 indicate score or partially perforate lines in the side walls, these score lines defining a strip which is tearable and removable from the side wall upon lifting the tab 24 and pulling the same toward the front of the box. Broken lines 28 indicate similar score lines in the front wall of the box, the score lines 28 being spaced apart the same as score lines 26 and intersecting the edge of opening 18 along one entire straight edge thereof at 30. This straight edge forms one side of the angle defined by the small end of opening 18, which end is spear shaped as above described.

The sheet of cellophane underlies the tear strip defined by the score lines 28 or at least a part thereof as plainly indicated in Figs. 1 and 2.

When the tab 24 is lifted and the tear strip is ripped away from the package, the tear strip will of course remain as a single piece and will tear off along lines 26 and 28 and become completely separated from the box when the edge 30 is reached. At the same time, the underlying portion of the cellophane, being cemented to this portion of the tear strip will tend to adhere thereto and this will result in tearing the cellophane along the dotted lines 32 or approximately at this location.

This action provides suflicient room for a finger to be inserted under the remaining cellophane which is then extremely easily torn or lifted from the entire length of opening 18 for easy and quick access to the contents of the package. Even if the tearable strip does not take with it a small portion of the cellophane at 32, the edge of the cellophane is exposed nevertheless, and a finger may still be inserted under the same, so that the cellophane is easily ripped even though it is not torn by the tearable strip.

Having thus described my invention and the advantages thereof, I do not Wish to be limited to the details herein disclosed, otherwise than as set forth in the claim, but what I claim is:

A box having a front wall and a conjoint side wall, a tab cut in the side wall at a point remote from the front wall, the front wall having an opening therein, said opening being elongated and having an end approaching the side wall, perforate lines in the side wall from the tab to the junction of the walls, perforate lines from the junction of the walls to the opening, the perforate lines being continuous in the walls to define a tearable strip from the tab to the end of the front wall opening appreaching the side wall, a thin tearable sheet of transparent material adhered to the front wall at the interior side thereof to cover the opening and complete the box while revealing the contents, an edge portion of the sheet underlying the part of the tearable strip in the front wall.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 389,954 Cheswright Sept. 25, 1888 2,005,924 Wilson June 25, 1935 2,122,480 LoWey July 5, 1938 2,126,106 Goldberg Aug. 9, 1938 2,338,041 King Dec. 28, 1943 2,348,377 Goodyear May 9, 1944 2,365,159 Walton et al. Dec. 19, 1944 FOREIGN PATENTS 474,648 Great Britain Nov. 4, 1937 540,176 Great Britain Oct. 8, 1941 

